But the move risks re-stoking a years-long debate about the company's own commitment to fighting "inequity," when in the 1990s it abandoned a commitment to linking its workers' pay to that of its CEO.

Ben & Jerry's once, admirably, had a 5 to 1 rule limiting the pay of its CEO -- $81,000 -- to the company's lowest paid worker. It required the CEO to raise the pay of his employees to create a pay raise for himself. Ben & Jerry's abandoned that rule in 1994 when the company couldn't find anyone to replace Ben Cohen upon his retirement.

I'm being pedantic, of course. Ben & Jerry's is a much more socially responsible company than most. Its product is delicious. I've done my share to buoy Unilever stock by consuming New York Super Fudge Chunk.

But that doesn't change the fact that Ben & Jerry's is a non-transparent conglomerate that has had a two-decade policy of contributing to economic inequality among its employees.